


Sins

by Medea87



Category: Waking the Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Study
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 08:14:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29898201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Medea87/pseuds/Medea87
Summary: An alternate version of the season 7 episodes 3&4, Sins Part 1&2. From Linda's perspective.Or, you don't always get what you want.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	Sins

“Linda? Oh Linda. She’s quiet, calm, capable, clever. Don’t know why she does this job really”.

“Bit of a bitch that one! Doesn’t let anyone near her, total cold fish”.

“I’ve always thought she was an introvert personally”.

These are the sort of mutterings about her that have found their way to Linda’s ears and the comments while dull tell her that no one has seen the real her.

Good.

\---

Ryan and Kelleher and the others are scum, but it’s amusing to treat them like rats in a maze. They only see the obvious walls and never know when someone is going to sweep in and change the rules without them even noticing.

Outside the prison her actions would be seen as immoral. But in here, well. There was a reason the Great British Public was on average known to have the ‘Save the NHS, Hang the Paedo’s’ mentality, most wouldn’t care, and some would approve.

\--

She goes to see Cathy and her daughter after work. As she opens the door a small face peers around her mother.

“Aunty Linda where are Alice and Rosie? Will you play with me?”

It’s easy enough to explain that her daughters are at their grandmother’s house and acquiesce to Julie’s demands and play with barbies for a while. The smooth plastic in her hands is familiar as is Julie’s babble. Once again, she repeats the same tropes in Julie’s make-believe game as she always does.

Children are easy and straight-forward, and there is a comfort and ease in that.

Cathy visibly relaxes in the background, coffee in hand, steam rising off her mug and a smile on her face that Julie has another adult to rely on.

\--

They chat for a while has Julie eats her dinner and Linda enjoys the quiet comfort of the moment.

Cathy sends Julie off to brush her teeth before bed with the promise from Linda that she will stay to read a bed-time story. The trepidation starts to fill Cathy’s face.

“Why are you ok with spending time with Julie?”

“I think we both know the reason why.” She responds enigmatically, but Linda can see that the answer is not enough.

“None, of us have a perfect start in life and considering I’ve been involved in your life so long and around for her entire life I want to give her what neither of us had.” It’s truthful if not the whole story.

Just as Cathy starts to speak again Julie reappears and jumps onto Linda’s lap.

She can smell the mint from the toothpaste and the strawberry shampoo Cathy must have washed Julie’s hair with the previous evening.

“Will you read me that story now?”

Smiling Linda says, “Yes” and allows herself to be carelessly pulled up stairs for what will undoubtedly be a chapter of a Roald Dahl book.  
It’s good to maintain the appearance of social connections.

\--

It’s quiet without her girls’. She’s bored and she’s never done well with boredom. 

It’s not good for her.

Or others.

\--

“Linda! Over here”

She turns to see Jonathan Pike and the others, drinks after work have never interested her but being seen as part of ‘the team’ keeps her safe, both physically at work and from expectation that she might be any more than she appears.

The beep of her phone distracts her and she mimes to the others across the noisy room that she needs to take a phone call.  
It’s Cathy.

She’s clearly distraught and isn’t making much sense.

“Look I’ll come straight round Cathy I just need to let the others know that I’m leaving… yes I promise I won’t let them know where I’m going”.

Pike smirks as Linda tells the group that has to leave as her daughters’ need her. She knows he only half believes her, glad to get rid of the woman in the group and exclude her; but also half thinking that the story is true and that this just demonstrates why women shouldn’t be in the job, they’ll always have to deal with the children.

Tosser.

\--

Damien is there when she arrives at Cathy’s.

“Linda” 

“Dr Hooper”

Damien has always sensed that there is something not quite right about Linda. He’s intelligent enough to notice that, but not intelligent enough to figure out what.

From the expression on his face he clearly is uncomfortable with her being there. 

Cathy called Linda when he was already there. She wants her surrogate big-sister more than she wants the father figure that he is.

After all Cathy and Linda have an intimacy that Cathy and Damien don’t. Secrets will do that.

\--

It takes a bit of gentle cossetting, but Cathy finally tells Linda what she was told by the police cold case unit. 

Her father’s head has been found and his murder case has been re-opened.

Linda holds Cathy tight and gently strokes her hair, the way she would with her own girls or Julie, Cathy’s hair too smelling of Strawberry shampoo.

“Just keep saying what you said before, it’s all true, you will be fine, we’ll be fine”.

The caring physical contact and some gentle reassurances calm Cathy down. 

Any time other than this the situation would be concerning, but right now… maybe something interesting will happen.


End file.
